Spring Game Thoughts

Just finished watching it and here are some of my observations-

BWC wearing a cut off jersey was probably the low point for the day. WTF!?!? Not a good look.

The middle of the d-line is in bad shape. This really worries me. There is so much coaching can do. I just do not think we have the horses to fix things before fall. BWC did some good things and some not so good things. I saw him pancake some one I think it was Barnum. I saw a couple of other plays where he did push the line back. Then I saw him being driven back a couple of times. Sigh.

Devin Gardner was bad...real bad. It is no wonder people on here question the star system of recruiting. We have two that may leave Michigan has huge underachievers. I am not willing to give up on DG yet but he has not given me much reason to be optimistic. He is dangerous as a runner but his passing game leaves a lot to be desired. Bellomy outplayed Gardner IMO.

I have been saying this before the spring game but it was confirmed today. Our LB's are going to be phenomenal for years to come. Mattison said in the presser following the game that the competition at that position is going to be great to watch. Hawthorn looks like he ma be a BEAST to us. That stuff he had on Vincent near the goal line was big time.

Our running game is going to be great. We know what Fitz can do but Rawls is going to push him for carries. Good problem to have. Rawls was the MVP today.

Our secondary should do just fine. Not sure if I would say they will be great but they will be good for sure.

The numbers on the helmets with the grey face mask's are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Mealer is second string. Still might be able to crack the first team but it doesn't look good right now.

I know it is a spring game and you do not want to go overboard on any of it. I also know it is April and we need something to talk about! Just wanted to share some of my thoughts.

DG looked like absolute shit.

If the coaches put much stock into yesterday, Bellomy is our #2 and it's time to move DG to WR for good. He clearly showed what he can do in the open field, but in the pocket he was atrocious.

As for the helmets, I'm ready to get back to the norm. I heard one of the players say they hadn't discussed the helmets for next season yet, so it remains to be seen what they'll look like next season.

Admin wrote:

As for the helmets, I'm ready to get back to the norm. I heard one of the players say they hadn't discussed the helmets for next season yet, so it remains to be seen what they'll look like next season.

I saw that too but he also said that he hope they keep them. Personally I like the number but I would like to see them get rid of the grey on the face mask. I thought Hoke was against all things Ohio??? I really think Hoke defers to the players on these matters. I do not see the helmets going anywhere for a while.

He does defer to players mostly when it comes to this

If they only got rid of one thing, I'd rid of the facemasks. I guess I can deal with the numbers, but grey is not in our color wheel.

IMHO they helmets will return to "normal" in the Fall. Yes Coach Hoke lets the players have significant input on how the team functions as, visible by allowing the numbers and face-masks to stay last year, but he is also on record as saying that he won't let them get too carried away. The minor tweaks on the helmets actually weren't that big of a deal AND they stemmed from the Notre Dame game. Him allowing those things to stay for the rest of the year wasn't that big of a deal.

However, this is a new year and a new team. Unless there is another retro thing planned I don't see them returning.

That's just how I see things. I could be wrong and it wouldn't startle me. At most I might blink once or twice if the numbers returned but I seriously wouldn't be shocked.

Will--- with your entire post kinda big to encapsulate in "quote" tags, I'd like to say that, though you reached (IMO) to "extremes" on both ends of the spectrum ("terrible" and "great"), pretty fair post, and shit,
what's wrong with voicing one's opinions?

But one area I must say I absolutely agree with your negative vibes comes in regard to the interior of the D-line. For the longest time I, a la most of our fellow fans/posters, have felt the most concern about this
aspect of our 2012 outfit. And watching what I did of yesterday's spring game did nothing to assuage my anxiety.

The blubber you mention on Big Will was as apparent as the 'M' midfield. And I have always wondered about moving Jibreel inside...the guy played at only 6-2,258 last year. But two things do placate my worries there: (1) his "Whatever you think best, coach" attitude when asked to change, and (2) It's Matty and Brady who made that decision, not me, so it's in much, much better hands!!

As for Will, maybe I/we are even a bit rough on him, shape-wise. As Jansen said, he's shed 30-35 pounds, which shows at least token dedication. And leave us not forget one thing: people who weigh that much, even if they look like that, are almost certainly stronger than we think. I say such for one reason: every joint, muscle, tendon, ligament and bone in his body is almost constantly weight-lifting.

As a humorous(?) closing, remember (all of us) when, in our kid days, 10 years old or so, when the
testosterone (OK, not at that age) moved us, we'd turn our aggression to some slow, fat kid? "Hey,
tubby, you fat so-and-so..." and when we tried backing up our words, found out he was a helluva lot
stronger than we thought? This punk sure as hell learned that lesson painfully once...LOL!!!

Yea I went on an emotional roller coaster.

For clarification purposes-I was not trying to call BWC fat or out of shape. Just thought the cut off shirt was not flattering at all. I give him credit for his weight loss and have no doubt he is a strong kid. Hard to expect someone to be 300 lbs + and chiseled. That said he should avoid cut off shirts, skinny jeans, speedos, etc. at all cost.

Bellomy never faced the one's and Gardner did. Not saying that Gardner looked good, but I put zero stock in the spring game.

Also, I hope they keep the grey facemasks with the numbers.

WillieMfan wrote:

Yea I went on an emotional roller coaster.

For clarification purposes-I was not trying to call BWC fat or out of shape. Just thought the cut off shirt was not flattering at all. I give him credit for his weight loss and have no doubt he is a strong kid. Hard to expect someone to be 300 lbs + and chiseled. That said he should avoid cut off shirts, skinny jeans, speedos, etc. at all cost.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

Bellomy never faced the one's and Gardner did. Not saying that Gardner looked good, but I put zero stock in the spring game.

Also, I hope they keep the grey facemasks with the numbers.

And lets not forget Borges sounds like he as really liked Gardner's progress in spring ball. Sounds like he just still needs more experience in terms of throwing accuracy.